The King delivers for St Barbara
THE BOURSE WHISPERER: Australian gold producer and mineral explorer St Barbara has commenced gold production from its King of the Hills underground mine at Leonora.
The King of the hills mine has had a fairly impressive development run having first been approved just over a year ago in March 2010.
By September a Definitive Mine Study was well underway, which confirmed the mine’s viability, and then mining of the access decline commenced in October.
In March this year the mine produced its first development ore.
Processing of previously stockpiled development ore has confirmed the metallurgical characteristics of the ore body.
The new mine complements existing operations at Leonora and provides additional ore to fully utilise available milling capacity in the nearby Gwalia treatment plant, where the latest ore was processed.
The King of the Hills mine is expected to produce 55,000 to 60,000 ounces of gold per annum for the next five to six years, with potential for mine life extension.
“The commencement of gold production from King of the Hills is an important demonstration of St Barbara’s organic growth potential,” St Barbara managing director and CEO Tim Lehany said.
“It is also pleasing that the project has achieved, or bettered, each of the key project milestones since being approved just over 12 months ago.”